Minutes
Thursday, June 11, 1998
Page
MINUTES
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION (INTERIM)
Thursday, June 11, 1998
10:30 a.m.
Fort Worth City Council Chamber
1000 Throckmorton
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate Rule
11.11, a public hearing of the Senate Interim Committee on
Public Information was held on Thursday, June 11, 1998, in the
Fort Worth City Council Chamber, 1000 Throckmorton, Fort
Worth, Texas.
*****
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Jeff Wentworth Senator Kenneth
Armbrister
Senator John Carona Senator Eliot
Shapleigh
Senator John Whitmire
*****
The Chair called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m.
There being a quorum present, the following business was
transacted.
Senator Carona moved adoption of the minutes from the
last meeting. Without objection, it was so ordered.
Chairman Wentworth recognized Senator Mike Moncrief,
District 12, as being in attendance and participating in the
hearing.
Chairman Wentworth recognized City Councilmember Jeff
Wentworth to welcome the committee to Fort Worth on behalf of
Mayor Kenneth Barr.
The committee heard invited testimony on SB 1069 (75th
Legislative Session) and related matters. The following
person registered to testify on this issue:
Jeremy L. Halbreich, President and General Manager of the
Dallas Morning News, representing himself, the Texas Daily
Newspaper Association, and the Texas Press Association.
The committee heard invited testimony regarding judicial
records. The following person registered to testify on this
issue:
The Honorable Mike Wood, Chairman of the Committee on
Court Records, Texas Judicial Council.
The committee heard invited testimony regarding
electronic access to public information. The following person
registered to testify on this issue:
Charles N. Davis, Ph.D., professor of media law at
Southern Methodist University.
The committee heard invited testimony regarding records
of governmental bodies created as a result of alternative
dispute resolution. The following person registered to
testify on this issue:
Paul C. Watler, Freedom of Information Foundation of
Texas.
The committee heard invited testimony regarding
harassment issues associated with the Public Information Act.
The following persons registered to testify on this issue:
Mark Dempsey, Assistant City Attorney for the City of
Garland.
J. D. Davis, President of the American Driver's
Association.
At 12:25 p.m. the committee recessed for lunch and
reconvened at 1:42 p.m.
The committee heard public testimony on the committee
charges.
The following persons registered to testify on the
committee charges:
Andrew Bowman, Program Director, Center for Public Policy
Dispute Resolution, University of Texas Law School.
Betty Brink, reporter and contributing editor, FW Weekly.
Bob Burtman, Houston Press.
Keith A. Clifton, Tenant Tracker, Inc.
Martha Chambers, Records Management Officer, City of Fort
Worth.
Lois Dillard, CRM, Dallas County.
Susan Horton, Texas Municipal League.
Gregory Jones, representing himself.
Nancy T. King, Publisher and Editor in Chief, University
Faculty Voice, Houston.
Gwenn Kyzer, Experian Corporation.
Bill Lewis, Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Laura McGee, representing herself.
Thomas L. Myers, representing himself.
Mede Nix, Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Shirley R. Sloat, Chair of the Records Preservation and
Access Committee, Dallas Genealogical Society.
Frank Sturzl, Executive Director, Texas Municipal League.
Thomas A. Wilder, District Clerk, Tarrant County.
Stanley Wolanski, representing himself.
There being no further business, at 3:35 p.m. Chairman
Wentworth moved that the committee stand recessed subject to
the call of the Chair. Without objection, it was so ordered.
___________________________________________
Senator Jeff Wentworth, Chair
___________________________________________
Todd Baxter, General Counsel and Chief Clerk